Talk at Daksha School - Goal Setting

I had asked Anita if I could do a session on goal setting for the senior kids in school a month ago and she said I could and that she would figure out the right time for it and let me know. Today was the first day of the new year and she asked if I could do a one hour session starting 830 am and I was glad to grab the chance.

Receiving the thank you card

Over the years I have been doing many workshops and lectures and always found that the most effective parts of the workshop were the strength finding exercises and goal setting exercises (somehow seemed to generate a lot of energy). Both get the students to think a bit. I also found that goal setting needs a bit of expansion of their own limits - so I start with a wish list - sometimes as many as 50 if we have the time. It just opens up the mind to possibilities and then we could always discuss how to go about them.

Making a point

The classes 7th to 10th were in attendance and it was nice meeting some of Anjali's old teachers. So I stayed true to the format and asked them if anyone had goals. A few hands went up and some were clear about getting 97% while others were vague like 'cricket'. I then asked them to list out 20 things they wished for  - a wish list if God appeared before them - and asked them to list stuff about their careers, academics, hobbies, passions, material things, crazy dreams etc. They got down to it and soon some were chugging away nicely while others struggled a bit but eventually got going with some prompts. I told them not to impose any limits and just go for it.

Another section - glad they are smiling

After 10 minutes we stopped and I asked a few of them to share. From being an artists, dancer, actor, cricketer, intelligent person, IITian, basketball player, rich, time traveller, inventor of an arc reactor, build a house, author and so many more dreams and wishes came up. I asked if they had any difficulty coming up with their wish list - whether they felt some were beyond them etc. To one prompt whether anyone wanted to be the Prime Minister one boy said he would rather not simply because it appeared like a lot of work! I told him that any high position in life would require work and that they must be prepared for it. When I asked him if he thought Virat Kohli's job was easy he said it was - and I had to tell him that Virat Kohli trains the hardest!

A section of the audience

I spoke about the concept of SMART Goals which some of them were aware of and told them to apply the filters of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound to make them a bigger possibility. The clearer one can see their goals and put a time limit on it, one improves their chances of achieving such goals. So I asked them to put a number (how many marks or how much money), name (wherever possible such as x college), a visual (if its a house, a car, a job). They all were told to add to their list of goals and then make them more SMART. Anita also told them to add academic goals for the year, to have bigger goals and to write these goals down as an assignment.

A tic I picked up - touching my ear while speaking

When we opened up the stage to questions I expected one or two but I was deluged with a load of questions - what were you when you played, how much did they pay you then, do you have any regrets (I said I regretted not having a clear goal), how to write, how to get better at stuff, which IPL team I liked (I said none and when I asked them which team they liked they said RCB!) and so on and so forth. We finally had to cut down on the questions and ended the session. One of the students came and gave me a lovely hand made thank you card and also a fine vote of thanks. I found the students very tuned in, bold, clear, intelligent, unafraid to ask questions and also very patient (they sat for over an hour!)

Treasured gift - a lovely card

I chatted with Anita about why I want to do more of these classes - just to open up students minds to possibilities and hopefully make a difference to their goals and lives. As usual it was very satisfying to have a session like this. I asked Anita if we could get some feedback from the students.             

Vote of thanks!

Thanks Anita for giving me an opportunity to interact with the students and I do hope it will help them a bit as they go forward.